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WASHINGTON’S 

FAREWELL ADDRESS, 

TO THE 

PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES: 


PUBLISHED IN SEPT., 1796. 






WASHINGTON’S 


FAREWELL ADDRESS 

Vv 7 

£*?* 

TO THE 



S 

PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: 


PUBLISHED IN SEPTEMBER, 1796. 


Printed by order of the House of Representatives, February 22, 1844. 




HARRISBURG: 

ISAAC G. M’KINLEY, STATE PRINTER. 















i 





TO THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES. 


Friends and fellow citizens The period for a new election of a citizen to 
administer the executive government of the United States being not far distant, and the 
time actually arrived when your thoughts must be employed in designating the person 
who is to be clothed with that important trust, it appears to me proper, especially as it 
may conduce to a more distinct expression of the public voice, that I should now 
apprize you of the resolution I have formed, to decline being considered among the 
number of those, out of whom a choice is to be made. 

I beg you, at the same time, to do me the justice to be assured, that this resolution 
has not been taken, without a strict regard to all the considerations appertaining to the 
relation which binds a dutiful citizen to his country; and that, in withdrawing the ten¬ 
der of service which silence in my situation might imply, I am influenced by no diminu¬ 
tion of zeal for your future interest; no deficiency of grateful respect for your past 
kindness; but am supported by a full conviction that the step is compatible with both. 

The acceptance of, and continuance hitherto in the office to which your suffrages 
have twice called me, have been a uniform sacrifice of inclination to the opinion of duty, 
and to a deference for what appeared to be your desire. I constantly hoped that it 
would have been much earlier in my power, consistently with motives which I was not 
at liberty to disregard, to return to that retirement from which I had been reluctantly 
drawn. The strength of my inclination to do this, previous to the last election, had 
even led to the preparation of an address to declare it to you ; but mature reflection on 
the then perplexed and critical posture of our affairs with foreign nations, and the unani¬ 
mous advice of persons entitled to my confidence, impelled me to abandon the idea. 

I rejoice that the state of your concerns, external as well as internal, no longer renders 
the pursuit of inclination incompatible with the sentiment of duty or propriety; and am 
persuaded, whatever partiality may be retained for my services, that, in the present cir¬ 
cumstances of our country, you will not disapprove my determination to retire. 

The impression with which I first undertook the arduous trust, were explained on the 
proper occasion. In the discharge of this trust, I will only say that I have, with good 
intentions, contributed towards the organization and administration of the government, 
the best exertions of which a very fallible judgment was capable. Not unconscious in 
the outset, of the inferiority of my qualifications, experience, in my own eyes, perhaps 
still more in the eyes of others, has strengthened the motives to diffidence of myself; 
and, every day, the increasing weight of years admonishes me more and more, that the 
shade of retirement is as necessary to me as it will be welcome. Satisfied that if any 



4 


WASHINGTON’S FAREWELL 


circumstances have given peculiar value to my services, they were temporary, I have 
the consolation to believe that, while choice and prudence invite me to quit the political 
scene, patriotism does not forbid it. 

In looking forward to the moment which is to terminate the career of my political 
life, my feelings do not permit me to suspend the deep acknowledgment of that debt of 
gratitude which I owe to my beloved country, for the many honors it has conferred 
upon me ; still more, for the steadfast confidence with which it has supported me; and 
for the opportunities I have thence enjoyed of manifesting my inviolable attachment, by 
services faithful and persevering, though in usefulness unequal to my zeal. If benefits 
have resulted to our country from these services, let it always be remembered to your 
praise, and as an instructive example in our annals, that under circumstances in which 
the passions, agitated in every direction, were liable to mislead amidst appearances 
sometimes dubious, vicissitudes of fortune often discouraging—in situations in which, 
not unfrequently, want of success has countenanced the spirit of criticism—the con¬ 
stancy of your support was the essential prop of the efforts, and a guarantee of the 
plans, by which they were effected. Profoundly penetrated with this idea, I shall 
carry it with me to my grave, as a strong incitement to unceasing vows, that Heaven 
may continue to you the choicest tokens of its beneficence—that your union and 
brotherly affection may be perpetual—that the free constitution, which is the work of 
your hands, may be sacredly maintained—that its administration in every department 
may be stamped with wisdom and virtue; that, in fine, the happiness of the people of 
these states, under the auspices of liberty, may be made complete by so careful a 
preservation, and so prudent a use of this blessing, as will acquire to them the glory of 
recommending it to the applause, the affection and adoption of every nation which is yet 
a stranger to it. 

Here, perhaps, I ought to stop. But a solicitude for your welfare, which cannot end 
but with my life, and the apprehension of danger, natural to that solicitude, urge me, 
on an occasion like the present, to offer to your solemn contemplation, and to recom¬ 
mend to your frequent review, some sentiments which are the result of much reflection, 
of no inconsiderable observation, and which appear to me all important to the perma¬ 
nency of your felicity as a people. These will be offered to you with the more free¬ 
dom, as you can only see in them the disinterested warnings of a parting friend, who 
can possibly have no personal motive to bias his counsel. Nor can I forget, as an 
encouragement to it, your indulgent reception of my sentiments on a former and not 
dissimilar occasion. 

Interwoven as is the love of liberty with every ligament of your hearts, no recom¬ 
mendation of mine is necessary to fortify or confirm the attachment. 

The unity of government which constitutes you one people, is also now dear to you. 
It is justly so; for it is a main pillar in the edifice of your real independence; the sup¬ 
port of your tranquility at home; your peace abroad; of your safety; of your pros¬ 
perity ; of that very liberty which you so highly prize. But as it is easy to foresee that, 
from different causes and from different quarters, much pains will be taken, many 
artifices employed, to weaken in your minds the conviction of this truth; as this is the 
point in your political fortress against which the batteries of internal and external ene¬ 
mies will be most constantly and actively, (though often covertly and insidiously,) 


WASHINGTON’S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 5 

directed; it is of infinite moment, that you should properly estimate the immense value 
of your national union to your collective and individual happiness; that you should 
cherish a cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment to it; accustoming yourselves to 
think and speak of it as of the palladium of your political safety and prosperity; watch¬ 
ing for its preservation with jealous anxiety; discountenancing whatever may suggest 
even a suspicion that it can, in any event, be abandoned; and indignantly frowning 
upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the 
rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the various parts. 

For this you have every inducement of sympathy and interest. Citizens by birth, 
or choice, of a common country, that country has a right to concentrate your affections. 
The name of American, which belongs to you in your national capacity, must always 
exalt the just pride of patriotism, more than any appellation derived from local discrimi¬ 
nations. With slight shades of difference, you have the same religion, manners, 
habits and political principles—you have in a common cause, fought and triumphed 
together; the independence and liberty you possess, are the work of joint counsels and 
joint efforts, of common dangers, sufferings and successes. 

But these considerations, however powerfully they address themselves to your sensi¬ 
bility, are greatly outweighed by those which apply more immediately to your interest. 
Here, every portion of our country finds the most commanding motives for carefully 
guarding and preserving the union of the whole. 

The North , in an unrestrained intercourse with the South , protected by the equal 
laws of a common government, finds in the productions of the latter, great additional 
resources of maritime and commercial enterprize, and precious materials of manufac¬ 
turing industry. The South , in the same intercourse, benefitting by the same agency 
of the North , sees its agriculture grow and its commerce expand. Turning partly into 
its own channels the seamen of the North , it finds its particular navigation invigorated; 
and while it contributes in different ways, to nourish and increase the general mass of 
the national navigation, it looks forward to the protection of a maritime strength, to 
which itself is unequally adapted. The East , in a like intercourse with the West , 
already finds, and in the progressive improvement of interior communications by land 
and water, will more and more, find a valuable vent for the commodities which it brings 
from abroad, or manufactures at home. The West derives from the East supplies re¬ 
quisite to its growth and comfort—and what is perhaps of still greater consequence, it 
must of necessity owe the secure enjoyment of indispensable outlets for its own pro¬ 
ductions, to the weight, influence, and the future maritime strength of the Atlantic side 
of the Union, directed by an indissoluble community of interest as one nation. Any 
other tenure by which the West can hold this essential advantage, whether derived from 
its own separate strength, or from an apostate and unnatural connexion with any foreign 
power, must be intrinsically precarious. 

While then every part of our country thus feels an immediate and particular interest 
in union, all the parts combined cannot fail to find in the united mass of means and 
efforts, greater strength, greater resource, proportionably greater security from external 
danger, a less frequent interruption of their peace by foreign nations; and, what is of 
inestimable value, they must derive from union, an exemption from those broils and 
wars between themselves, which so frequently afflict neighboring countries, not tied 


6 


WASHINGTON’S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 


together by the same government; which their own rivalship alone would be sufficient 
to produce, but which opposite foreign alliances, attachments and intrigues, would 
stimulate and embitter. Hence, likewise, they will avoid the necessity of those over¬ 
grown military establishments, which under any form of government, are inauspicious 
to liberty, and which are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty. In 
this sense it is, that your union ought to be considered as a main prop of your liberty, 
and that the love of the one ought to endear to you the preservation of the other. 

These considerations speak a persuasive language to every reflecting and virtuous 
mind, and exhibit the continuance of the union as a primary object of patriotic desire. 
Is there a doubt whether a common government can embrace so large a sphere ? Let 
experience solve it. To listen to mere speculation in such a case were criminal. We 
are authorized to hope that a proper organization of the whole, with the auxiliary agency 
of governments for the respective subdivisions, will afford a happy issue to the experi¬ 
ment. It is well worth a fair and full experiment. With such powerful and obvious 
motives to union, affecting all parts of our country, while experience shall not have 
demonstrated its impracticability, there will always be reason to distrust the patriotism 
.^of those who, in any quarter, may endeavor to weaken its hands. 

In contemplating the causes which may disturb our union, it occurs as matter of serious 
concern, that any ground should have been furnished for characterizing parties by geo¬ 
graphical discriminations —northern and southern—Atlantic and western; whence 
designing men may endeavor to excite a belief that there is a real difference of local 
interests and views. One of the expedients of party to acquire influence within par¬ 
ticular districts, is to misrepresent the opinions and aims of other districts. You can¬ 
not shield yourselves too much against the jealousies and heart-burnings which spring 
from these misrepresentations : they tend to render alien to each other those who ought 
to be bound together by fraternal affection. The inhabitants of our western country 
have lately had a useful lesson on this head : they have seen, in the negotiation by the 
executive, and in the unanimous ratification by the Senate of the treaty with Spain, 
and in the universal satisfaction at the event throughout the United States, a decisive 
proof how unfounded were the suspicions propagated among them, of a policy in the 
general government and in the Atlantic states, unfriendly to their interests in regard to 
the Mississippi. They have been witnesses to the formation of two treaties, that with 
Great Britain and that with Spain, which secure to them every thing they could desire, 
in respect to our foreign relations, towards confirming their prosperity. Will it not be 
their wisdom to rely for the preservation of these advantages on the union by which 
they were procured ? Will they not henceforth be deaf to those advisers, if such they 
are, who would sever them from their brethren, and connect them with aliens ? 

To the efficacy and permanence of your union, a government for the whole is indis¬ 
pensable. No alliances, however strict, between the parts, can be an adequate substitute; 
they must inevitably experience the infractions and interruptions which all alliances, in 
all times, have experienced. Sensible of this momentous truth, you have improved 
upon your first essay, by the adoption of a constitution of government, better calculated 
than your former, for an intimate union, and for the efficacious management of your 
common concerns. This government, the offspring of our own choice, uninfluenced 
a&d unawed, adopted upon full investigation and mature deliberation, completely free 


WASHINGTON’S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 


in its principles, in the distribution of its powers, uniting security with energy, and 
containing within itself a provision for its own amendment, has a just claim to your 
confidence and your support. Respect for its authority, compliance with its laws, 
acquiescence in its measures, are duties enjoined by the fundamental maxims of true 
liberty. The basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to 
alter their constitutions of government. But the constitution which at any time exists, 
until changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole people, is sacredly obliga¬ 
tory upon all. The very idea of the power, and the right of the people to establish gov¬ 
ernment, pre-suppose the duty of every individual to obey the established government. 

All obstructions to the execution of the laws, all combinations and associations 
under whatever plausible character, with the real design to direct, control, counteract, 
or awe the regular deliberations and action of the constituted authorities, are destructive 
of this fundamental principle, and of fatal tendency. They serve to organize faction, 
to give it an artificial and extraordinary force, to put in the place of the delegated will 
of the nation the will of party, often a small but artful and enterprizing minority of the 
community; and, according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the 
public administration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction, 
rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans, digested by common counsels, 
and modified by mutual interests. 

However combinations or associations of the above description may now and then 
answer popular ends, they are likely, in the course of time and things, to become potent 
engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men, will be enabled to subvert 
the power of the people, and to usurp for themselves the reins of government ; des¬ 
troying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion. 

Towards the preservation of your government and the permanency of your present 
happy state, it is requisite, not only that you steadily discountenance irregular opposi¬ 
tion to its acknowledged authority, but also that you resist with care the spirit of 
innovation upon its principles, however specious the pretext. One method of assault 
may be to effect, in the forms of the constitution, alterations which will impair the 
energy of the system; and thus to undermine what cannot be directly overthrown. In 
all the changes to which you may be invited, remember that time and habit are at least 
as necessary to fix the true character of governments, as of other human institutions: 
that experience is the surest standard by which to test the real tendency of the existing 
constitution of a country: that facility in changes, upon the credit of mere hypothesis 
and opinion, exposes to perpetual change from the endless variety of hypothesis and 
opinion: and remember, especially, that for the efficient management of your common 
interests, in a country so extensive as ours, a government of as much vigor as is con¬ 
sistent with the perfect security of liberty, is indispensable. Liberty itself will find in 
such a government, with powers properly distributed and adjusted, its surest guardian. 
It is, indeed, little else than a name, where the government is too feeble to withstand 
the enterprizes of faction, to confine each member of the society within the limits 
prescribed by the laws, and to maintain all in the secure and tranquil enjoyment of the 
rights of person and property. 

I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the State, with particular 
references to the founding them on geographical discrimination. Let me now take a 


8 


WASHINGTON’S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 


more comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful 
effects of the spirit of party generally. 

This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the 
strongest passions of the human mind. It exists under different shapes in all govern¬ 
ments, more or less stifled, controlled, or repressed; but in those of the popular form, 
it is seen in its greatest rankness, and is truly their worst enemy. 

The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of 
revenge natural to party dissension, which, in different ages and countries, has perpe¬ 
trated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at 
length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries which 
result, gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute 
power of an individual 5 and, sooner or later, the chief of some prevailing faction, more 
able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purpose of his 
own elevation, on the ruins of public liberty. 

Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind, (which, nevertheless, ought 
not to be entirely out of sight,) the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of 
party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and 
restrain it. 

It serves always to distract the public councils, and enfeeble the public administration. 
It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms 5 kindles the 
animosity of one part against another; foments occasional riot and insurrection. It 
opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which finds a facilitated access to the 
government itself, through the channels of party passions. Thus, the policy and the 
will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another. 

There is ah opinion that parties in free countries are useful checks upon the admin¬ 
istration of the government, and serve to keep alive the spirit of liberty. This, within 
certain limits, is probably true; and, in governments of a monarchical cast, patriotism 
may look with indulgence, if not with favor, upon the spirit of party. But in those 
of the popular character, in governments purely elective, it is a spirit not to be encouraged. 
From their natural tendency, it is certain there will always be enough of that spirit for 
every salutary purpose. And there being constant danger of excess, the effort ought to 
be, by foree of public opinion, to mitigate and assuage it. A fire not to be quenched, 
it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent it bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warm¬ 
ing, it should consume. 

It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking in a free country should inspire 
caution in those intrusted with its administration, to confine themselves within their 
respective constitutional spheres, avoiding, in the exercise of the powers of one depart¬ 
ment, to encroach upon another. The spirit of encroachment tends to consolidate the 
powers of all the departments in one, and thus to create, whatever the form of govern¬ 
ment, a real despotism. A just estimate of that love of power and proneness to abuse 
it which predominate in the human heart, is sufficient to satisfy us of the truth of this 
position. The necessity of reciprocal checks, in the exercise of political power, by 
dividing and distributing it into different depositories, and constituting each the guardian 
of the public weal against invasions of the others, has been evinced by experiments, 
ancient and modern ; some of them in our country and under our own eyes. To pre- 


WASHINGTON’S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 


9 


serve them must be as necessary as to institute them. If, in the‘opinion of the people, 
the distribution or modification of the constitutional powers be in any particular wrong, 
let it be corrected by an amendment in the way which the constitution designates. But 
let there be no change by usurpation; for though this, in one instance, may be the 
instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by which free governments are destroyed. 
The precedent must always greatly overbalance, in permanent evil, any partial or tran¬ 
sient benefit which the use can at any time yield. 

Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and 
Morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of 
patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these 
firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with 
the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all 
their connexions with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked, where is the 
security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert 
the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice ? And let us, 
with caution, indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. 
Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar 
structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect, that national morality can 
revail in exclusion of religious principle. 

It is substantially true, that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular 
government. The rule indeed extends, with more or less force, to every species of 
free government. Who, that is a sincere friend to it, can look with indifference upon 
attempts to shake the foundation of the fabric? 

Promote then, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffu¬ 
sion of knowledge. In proportion as the structure of a government gives force to 
public opinion, it should be enlightened. 

As a very important source of strength and security, cherish public credit. One 
method of preserving it, is to use it as sparingly as possible, avoiding occasions of' 
expense by cultivating peace, but remembering also, that timely disbursements, to pre¬ 
pare for danger, frequently prevent much greater disbursements to repel it; avoiding, 
likewise, the accumulation of debt, not only by shunning occasions of expense, but by 
vigorous exertions, in time of peace, to discharge the debts which unavoidable wars 
may have occasioned, not ungenerously throwing upon posterity the burden which we 
ourselves ought to bear. The execution of those maxims belongs to your representa¬ 
tives, but it is necessary that public opinion should co-operate. To facilitate to them 
the performance of their duty, it is essential that you should practically bear in mind, 
that towards the payment of debts there must be revenue •, that to have revenue there 
must be taxes ; that no taxes can be devised, which are not more or less inconvenient 
and unpleasant; that the intrinsic embarrassment, inseparable from the selection of the 
proper object, (which is always a choice of difficulties,) ought to be a decisive motive 
for a candid construction of the conduct of the government in making it, and for a 
spirit of acquiescence in the measures for obtaining revenue, which the public exigen¬ 
cies may at any time dictate. 

Observe good faith and justice towards all nations; cultivate peace and harmony with 
all. Religion and morality enjoin this conduct, and can it be that good policy does not 




10 WASHINGTON’S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 

equally enjoin it? It will be worthy of a free, enlightened, and, at no distant period, 
a great nation, to give to mankind the magnanimous and too novel example of a people 
always guided by an exalted justice and benevolence. Who can doubt but, in the 
course of time and things, the fruits of such a plan would richly repay any temporary 
advantages which might be lost by a steady adherence to it ; can it be that Providence 
has not connected the permanent felicity of a nation with its virtue ? The experiment, 
at least, is recommended by every sentiment which ennobles human nature. Alas ! it 
is rendered impossible by its vices. 

In the execution of such a plan, nothing is more essential than that permanent, in¬ 
veterate antipathies against particular nations, and passionate attachments for others, 
should be excluded; and that, in place of them, just amicable feelings towards all 
should be cultivated. The nation which indulges towards another an habitual hatred, 
or an habitual fondness, is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its animosity or to 
its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest. 
Antipathy in one nation against another, disposes each more readily to offer insult and 
injury, to lay hold of slight causes of umbrage, and to be haughty and intractable when 
accidental or trifling occasions of dispute occur. Hence, frequent collisions, obstinate, 
envenomed, and bloody contests. The nation, prompted by ill-will and resentment, 
sometimes impels to war the government, contrary to the best calculations of policy. 
The government sometimes participates in the national propensity, and adopts, through 
passion, what reason would reject; at other times, it makes the animosity of the nation 
subservient to projects of hostility, instigated by pride, ambition, and other sinister and 
pernicious motives. The peace often, sometimes perhaps the liberty of nations, has 
been the victim. 

So, likewise, a passionate attachment of one nation for another, produces a variety of 
evils. Sympathy for the favorite nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary com¬ 
mon interest, in cases where no real common interest exists, and infusing into one the 
enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars 
of the latter, without adequate inducements or justifications. It leads also to conces¬ 
sions, to the favorite nation, of privileges denied to others, which is apt doubly to injure 
the nation making the concessions, by unnecessarily parting with what ought to have 
been retained, and by exciting jealousy, ill will, and a disposition to retaliate in the 
parties from whom equal privileges are withheld; and it gives to ambitious, corrupted 
or deluded citizens, who devote themselves to the favorite nation, facility to betray or 
sacrifice the interests of their own country, without odium, sometimes even with popu¬ 
larity ; gilding, with the appearances of a virtuous sense of obligation, a commendable 
deference for public opinion, or a laudable zeal for public good; the base or foolish 
compliances of ambition, corruption, or infatuation. 

As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, such attachments are particu¬ 
larly alarming to the truly enlightened and independent patriot. How many opportu¬ 
nities do they afford to tamper with domestic factions, to practise the arts of seduction, 
to mislead public opinion, to influence or awe the public councils ? Such an attachment 
of a small or weak, towards a great and powerful nation, dooms the former to be the 
satellite of the latter. 

Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence, (I conjure you to believe me, fellow 


7 


WASHINGTON’S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 11 

citizens,) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake; since history 
and experience prove, that foreign inlluence is one of the most baneful foes of republican 
government. But that jealousy, to be useful, must be impartial, else it becomes the 
instrument of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defence against it. Exces¬ 
sive partiality for one foreign nation, and excessive dislike for another, cause those 
whom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil, and eVi?n second, 
the arts of influence on the other. Real patriots, who may resist the intrigues of the 
favorite, are liable to become suspected and odious 5 while its tools and dupes usurp 
the applause and confidence of the people, to surrender their interests. 

The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations, is, in extending our 
commercial relations, to have wfith them as little political connexion as possible. So 
far as we have already formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good 
faith : Here let us stop. 

Europe has a set of primary* interests, which to us have none, or a very remote 
relation. Hence, she must be engaged in frequent controversies, the causes of which 
are essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us to 
implicate ourselves, by artificial ties, in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics, or the 
ordinary combinations and collisions of her friendships or enmities. 

Our detached and distant situation, invites and enables us to pursue a different course. 
If we remain one people, under an efficient government, the period is not far off when 
we may defy material injury from external annoyance 5 when we may take such an 
attitude as will cause the neutrality we may at any time resolve upon, to be scrupulous¬ 
ly respected; when belligerant nations, under the impossibility of making acquisitions 
upon us, will not lightly hazard the giving us provocation, when we may choose peace 
or war, as our interest, guided by justice, shall counsel. 

Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation ? Why quit our own, to stand 
upon foreign ground ? Why, by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Eu¬ 
rope, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rivalship. 
interest, humor or caprice ? 

It is our true policy, to steer clear of permanent alliance with any portion of the 
foreign world $ so far, I mean, as we are now at liberty to do it ; for let me not be 
understood as capable of patronizing infidelity to existing engagements. I hold the 
maxim no less applicable to public than private affairs, that honesty is always the best 
policy. I repeat it, therefore, let those engagements be observed in their genuine sense. 
But, in my opinion, it is unnecessary, and would be unwise to extend them. 

Taking care always to keep ourselves, by suitable establishments, on a respectable 
defensive posture, we may safely trust to temporary alliances for extraordinary emer¬ 
gencies. 

Harmony, and a liberal intercourse with all nations, are recommended by policy, hu¬ 
manity and interest. But even our commercial policy should hold an equal and impartial 
hand : neither seeking nor granting exclusive favors or preferences ; consulting the 
natural course of things ; diffusing and diversifying by gentle means the streams of 
commerce, but forcing nothing ; establishing with powers so disposed, in order to give 
trade a stable course, to define the rights of our merchants, and to enable the govern¬ 
ment to support them, conventional rules of intercourse, the best that present circum- 


12 


WASHINGTON’S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 


stances and mutual opinion will permit, but temporary, and liable to be from time to 
time abandoned or varied as experience and circumstances shall dictate 5 constantly 
keeping in view, that it is folly in one nation to look for disinterested favors from 
another; that it must pay with a portion of its independence for whatever it may accept 
under that character ; that, by such acceptance, it may place itself in the condition of 
having given equivalents for nominal favors, and yet of being reproached with ingrati¬ 
tude for not giving more. There can be no greater error than to expect, or calculate 
upon real favors from nation to nation. It is an illusion which experience must cure, 
which a just pride ought to discard. 

In offering to you, my countrymen, these counsels of an old and affectionate friend, 
I dare not hope they will make the strong and lasting impression I could wish; that 
they will control the usual current of the passions, or prevent our nation from running 
the course which has hitherto marked the destiny of nations, but if I may even flatter 
myself that they may be productive of some partail Ijenefit, some occasional good : that 
they may now and then recur to moderate the fury of party spirit, to warn against the 
mischiefs of foreign intrigue, to guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism : 
this hope will be a full recompense for the solicitude for your welfare by which they 
have been dictated. 

How far, in the discharge of my official duties, I have been guided by the principles 
which have been delineated, the public records and other evidences of my conduct 
must witness to you and to the world. To myself, the assurance of my own con¬ 
science is, that I have, at least, believed myself to be guided by them. 

In relation to the still subsisting war in Europe, my proclamation of the 22d of April, 
1793 , is the index to my plan. Sanctioned by your approving voice, and by that of 
your representatives in both houses of congress, the spirit of that measure has continu¬ 
ally governed me, uninfluenced by any attempts to deter or divert me from it. 

After deliberate examination, with the aid of the best lights I could obtain, I was 
well satisfied that our country, under all the circumstances of the case, had a right to 
take, and was bound, in duty and interest, to take a neutral position. Having taken it. 

1 determined, as far as should depend upon me, to maintain it with moderation, perse¬ 
verance and firmness. 

The considerations which respect the right to hold this conduct, it is not necessary 
on this occasion to detail. I will only observe that, according to my understanding of 
the matter, that right, so far from being denied by any of the belligerent powers, has 
been virtually admitted by all. 

The duty of holding a neutral conduct may be inferred, without any thing more, 
from the obligation which justice and humanity impose on every nation, in cases in 
which it is free to act, to maintain inviolate the relations of peace and amity towards 
other nations. 

The inducements of interest for observing that conduct will best be referred to your 
own reflections and experience. With me, a predominant motive has been to endeavor 
to gain time to our country to settle and mature its yet recent institutions, and to pro¬ 
gress, without interruption, to that degree of strength and consistency, which is neces¬ 
sary to give it, humanely speaking, the command of its own fortunes. 


WASUIINU ION’S FAREWELL ADDRES-. 


Though in reviewing the incidents of my administration, I am unconscious of inten¬ 
tional error, I am nevertheless too sensible of my defects not to think itsprobable that 1 
may have committed many errors. Whatever they may be, I fervently beseech the 
Almightly to avert or mitigate the evils to which they may tend. I shall also carry 
with me the hope that my country will never cease to view them with indulgence ; and 
that, after forty-five years of my life, dedicated to its service, with an upright zeal, the 
faults of incompetent, abilities will be consigned to oblivion, as myself must soon be to 
the mansions of rest. 

Relying on its kindness in this as in other things, and actuated by that fervent love 
towards it, which is so natural to a man who views in it the native soil of himself and his 
progenitors for several generations ; I anticipate with pleasing expectations that retreat 
in which I promise myself to realize, without alloy, the sweet enjoyment of partaking, 
in the midst of my fellow citizens, the benign influence of good laws under a free gov¬ 
ernment—the ever favorite object of my heart, and the happy reward, as I trust, of our 
mutual cares, labors and dangers. 

GEO. WASHINGTON. 

United States, 17 th September , 1796. 





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